Jeremiah 3:8 kjv
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Jeremiah 3:8 nkjv
Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
Jeremiah 3:8 niv
I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.
Jeremiah 3:8 esv
She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.
Jeremiah 3:8 nlt
She saw that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution.
Jeremiah 3 8 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Deut 24:1–4 | "When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce..." | Law of divorce, basis for the metaphor |
| Isa 50:1 | "Thus says the Lord: 'Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?'" | God's rhetorical question regarding Israel's "divorce" |
| Ezek 16:32, 38 | "You adulterous wife, who prefers strangers to her husband! ... I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged..." | God judging Judah as an adulterous wife |
| Ezek 23:2-4 | "Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister... Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem." | Sisters Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem) as harlots |
| Hos 1:2 | "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land is whoring grievously away from the Lord." | Prophet's marriage symbolizing Israel's unfaithfulness |
| Hos 2:5, 7 | "For their mother has played the whoredom... For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers’... I will return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now." | Israel's spiritual prostitution and future repentance |
| Jer 3:1 | "If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her?" | Introduces the divorce imagery in the chapter |
| Jer 2:13, 17, 19 | "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me... and hewn out cisterns... Is it not this that has done you this harm, that you have forsaken the Lord your God...? Your evil will chastise you..." | Judah's earlier forsaking of God and its consequences |
| Lev 26:27-33 | "And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me... I will scatter you among the nations..." | Covenant curses for disobedience and exile |
| Deut 28:15, 25 | "But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God... The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies." | Covenant curses, foreshadowing exile and defeat |
| 2 Kgs 17:7-8, 18-20 | "And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God... they walked in the customs of the nations... So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence..." | Historical account of Israel's exile due to sin |
| 2 Chr 36:15-16 | "The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers... But they kept mocking the messengers of God..." | Judah's persistent rejection of divine warnings |
| Heb 3:7-11 | "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness... They shall not enter my rest." | Warning against hardening hearts like ancient Israel |
| 1 Cor 10:6, 11 | "Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did... These things happened to them as examples, but they were written down for our instruction..." | Israel's history as a warning for New Testament believers |
| Rom 11:22 | "Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness." | God's severity as a warning against spiritual arrogance |
| Jas 4:4 | "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." | Spiritual adultery of befriending the world |
| Jer 3:6-7 | "Have you seen what faithless Israel did...? Even after all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart." | Direct immediate context: God calling Judah's attention to Israel |
| Jer 5:7-8 | "When I feed them, they commit adultery; they troop to the houses of prostitutes... every one neighed for his neighbor’s wife." | Further description of widespread sin and adultery in Judah |
| Ps 78:56-58 | "Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God... They turned back and were faithless like their fathers... they provoked him to anger with their high places..." | Recounts Israel's persistent rebellion |
| Mal 2:16 | "For the man who hates and divorces, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts." | God hates unjustified divorce; context of Deut 24 |
| Rom 2:4 | "Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" | Judah rejected God's patient call to repentance |
Jeremiah 3 verses
Jeremiah 3 8 Meaning
Jeremiah 3:8 profoundly expresses God's sorrowful yet just action towards the northern kingdom of Israel due to her widespread spiritual idolatry, personified as adultery. God legally separated from her, metaphorically issuing a "writ of divorce" as a consequence of her repeated unfaithfulness to the covenant. Despite witnessing this severe judgment upon her sister Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah failed to learn from this dire warning. Instead of fearing God and repenting, Judah stubbornly persisted in her own treacherous idolatry, mirroring and even exceeding Israel's sin.
Jeremiah 3 8 Context
Jeremiah chapter 3 opens with a poignant question about the return of a divorced woman who has remarried, setting the stage for the analogy of Israel as an unfaithful wife. The immediate context of verse 8 (Jer 3:6-10) describes God addressing Judah through Jeremiah, highlighting Israel's prior unfaithfulness as a clear example. God points out how He "had sent her away" due to her rampant spiritual harlotry. The northern kingdom of Israel had been exiled by Assyria more than a century prior (722 BCE) precisely because of her covenant unfaithfulness and idolatry. This event was a profound object lesson for Judah. Judah was the remaining covenant people, residing in the southern kingdom, witnessing her "sister's" downfall. Despite seeing the tangible, severe consequences of Israel's idolatry, Judah chose to ignore the warning, refusing to truly repent and instead descending into even deeper treachery. Historically, this period was fraught with political instability, external threats from empires like Assyria and Babylon, and internal religious syncretism, making Judah's decision to embrace idolatry an act of profound spiritual rebellion in the face of both divine mercy and judgment.
Jeremiah 3 8 Word analysis
- And I saw: (וָאֵרֶא, wāʾēreʾ) - The Hebrew verb emphasizes God's direct observation and complete awareness of Israel's actions and His subsequent judgment. It conveys divine insight and active involvement, not merely passive notice. It is from the root rāʾāh (ראה), to see, perceive, understand.
- that for all the adulteries: (כִּי עַל כָּל-אָזְנוֹת מְשֻׁבָה, kî ʿal kol-ʾoznôṯ məšubāh) - "Adulteries" (nəʾûfîm נאופים, though here implied, with ʾoznôt from zônâ (זנה) meaning harlotry, prostitution). The phrase "all the harlotries of backsliding" (NIV, NASB for this section's phrase construction) indicates the extensive and habitual nature of Israel's idolatry, personified as promiscuous sexual sin. It encompasses both physical immorality often associated with fertility cults and, primarily, the spiritual disloyalty to Yahweh. The plural emphasizes the numerous acts of unfaithfulness.
- of faithless Israel: (מְשֻׁבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל, məšubāh Yiśrāʾēl) - Məšubāh (מְשֻׁבָה) translates to "apostasy," "backsliding," or "turning away." It signifies a deliberate and repeated deviation from God's covenant. This describes Israel's spiritual condition – a turning back to previous ways, forsaking their God.
- I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce: (שִׁלַּחְתִּיהָ וָאֶתֵּן אֶת-סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻתֶיהָ, šillaḥtîhā wāʾetten ʾeṯ-sēfer kərîṯūṯeyhā) - This phrase echoes the legal language of divorce in Deut 24:1-4.
- Šillaḥtîhā (שִׁלַּחְתִּיהָ): "I sent her away." The causative form of šālaḥ (שלח) implies a deliberate act of dismissal.
- Sēfer kərîṯūṯeyhā (סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻתֶיהָ): "her writ of cutting off" or "certificate of divorce." Kərîṯūṯ (כריתות) literally means "cutting off," indicating a final, legal separation, severing the covenant marriage relationship God had with Israel.
- Yet her treacherous sister Judah: (וַתֵּרֶא בֹּגְדָה אֲחוֹתָהּ יְהוּדָה, watterʾā boḡdâ ʾăḥôṯāh Yəhûḏâ) -
- Watterʾā (וַתֵּרֶא): "And she saw," refers to Judah actively witnessing Israel's fate.
- Boḡdâ (בֹּגְדָה): "treacherous" or "faithless," is a very strong term. It comes from bāḡaḏ (בגד), meaning "to betray," "deal treacherously with," or "deal faithlessly with." This goes beyond mere unfaithfulness; it implies deliberate deception and betrayal, particularly heinous as it was after seeing the consequence of such action.
- was not afraid: (לֹא יָרֵאָה, loʾ yārēʾāh) - Judah's lack of "fear" (from yārēʾ (ירא), reverential awe or dread) indicates an absence of both reverence for God's judgment and salutary fear of the consequences for her own sin. It reveals hardened hearts and obstinate defiance.
- but she too went and played the harlot: (וַתֵּלֶךְ גַּם-הִיא זוֹנָה, wattēleḵ gam-hî zônâ) - Gam-hî (גם-היא) means "she also" or "she too," explicitly stating Judah followed Israel's path. Zônâ (זונה) refers to a harlot or prostitute, confirming her deep involvement in idolatry. The verb hāraḵ (הלך), "to go," coupled with zônâ, depicts an active pursuit of spiritual adultery.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "And I saw... divorce.": This clause clearly lays out God's perspective and action regarding Israel's unfaithfulness. God is the active subject, the observant judge, and the one executing legal judgment (divorce) due to extensive spiritual prostitution. The vivid imagery is meant to illustrate the gravity of their covenant betrayal and God's just response.
- "Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid,...": This phrase presents a stark contrast and introduces the central indictment against Judah. "Treacherous" is key, implying a worse sin than mere unfaithfulness; it's a deliberate, observed betrayal. Judah's refusal to be "afraid" despite the precedent highlights profound spiritual blindness and stubbornness.
- "...but she too went and played the harlot.": This concludes the verse, emphasizing Judah's identical, conscious decision to commit the same spiritual harlotry as Israel. The "she too" reinforces the mimicry of Israel's destructive path, yet Judah's sin is exacerbated by her witnessing of the consequences inflicted on Israel.
Jeremiah 3 8 Bonus section
The divine "writ of divorce" issued to Israel (as well as Judah's impending judgment) serves as a polemic against the pagan notion that their national gods would automatically protect them regardless of their moral conduct. The Canaanite Baal religion, which involved sexual rites and child sacrifice, promised prosperity and protection to its devotees. By using the legal framework of divorce for covenant violation, God demonstrated that His relationship with His people was conditional upon their faithfulness to Him, directly challenging any assumptions of unconditional national security outside of obedience. This legal separation was not merely a spiritual concept but was made concrete through the historical reality of Israel's scattering and impending exile for Judah. The severity of God's action emphasizes His holiness and covenant integrity above human-centric ideas of divine loyalty based on tribal affiliation rather than faithfulness.
Jeremiah 3 8 Commentary
Jeremiah 3:8 is a stark and deeply sorrowful lament over Judah's spiritual depravity and defiant rejection of God. The metaphor of a divine "divorce" from Israel vividly conveys the utter brokenness of the covenant relationship caused by chronic idolatry. God, acting as a righteous husband, initiated legal separation as an act of both judgment and self-respect, consistent with the Mosaic law concerning unfaithful wives.
What makes Judah's sin particularly heinous is her full knowledge of Israel's fate. She saw God's severity toward her "sister" for the very same offenses, yet "was not afraid." This signifies a hardened heart and a profound lack of spiritual discernment. Judah not only mirrored Israel's harlotry but did so with blatant disregard for the evident divine justice. Her treachery was not born of ignorance but of willful rebellion, a persistent turning away from God despite every clear warning, mercy, and example. This verse thus stands as a powerful indictment of a nation that failed to learn from history, ultimately sealing its own tragic destiny through unrepentant sin. It also reflects God's deep pain and anger over His people's continuous betrayal, which goes against His desire for their restoration.